Question

Which of the following best describes why DDT is classified as a Persistent Organic Pollutant?

Answer 1

Answer:

Something that is persistent remains over time; this is a key characteristic of DDT, which also happens to be a pollutant/pesticide. DDT is able to persist in an environment (as a pollutant) in part due to a phenomenon known as biological magnification. In simpler terms. once DDT enters an ecosystem/trophic structure, it gets worse as you go up the trophic levels; in other words, this means that the worst effects/concentrations of the pesticide will be felt in the uppermost trophic levels (your consumers rather than producers).

The basis for this, however, lies in the fact that organisms of a trophic structure/ecosystem consume each other; they feed on each other to survive (e.g. consumers feeding on producers, higher-level consumers feeding on lower-level consumers, etc.). Thus, once DDT gets into an ecosystem, it can only persist and spread in that ecosystem. Hope this helps :)